Adult SwimWith an additional hour of programming each night now starting at 9 p.m., Adult Swim’s first week of January 2011 attracted strong double-digit Total Day delivery gains compared to the same time period last year across all key young adult demos—adults 18-34 delivery (454,000) expanded by 15%, adults 18-24 (247,000) expanded by 30%, men 18-34 (271,000) expanded by 17%, men 18-24 (150,000) expanded by 39%, and adults 18-49 (655,000) expanded by 12%.

The new air time for the original animated series THE VENTURE BROS. (Sunday, 9:30 p.m.) earned outstanding double and triple-digit delivery gains among targeted young male viewers—adults 18-24 delivery (80,000) grew by 116%, men 18-24 delivery (67,000) grew by 148%, men 18-34 delivery (106,000) grew by 74% and men 18-49 delivery (173,000) grew by 88%.

Adult Swim telecasts of Family Guy, Robot Chicken, American Dad and CHILDRENS HOSPITALaccounted for 14 of the Top 50telecasts of the week on all basic cable among adults 18-34, and 15 of the Top 50 among men 18-34.

TNTThe TNT hit The Closer wrapped up a two-part holiday episode last week (Dec. 27) with more than 6.5 million viewers, making it basic cable’s #1 entertainment program for the week. The episode also scored more than 2.1 million adults 25-54.

The Closer continues to enjoy strong growth through time-shifted viewing. The Dec. 13 episode show grew 27% in Live + 7 over Live + Same Day, for a total audience of 6.9 million viewers. The episode’s delivery of adults 25-54 grew 40% to 2.5 million.

The Dec. 27 episode of the acclaimed TNT drama Men of a Certain Age delivered 2.3 million viewers and 1 million adults 25-54, its best performance since the second season premiere. Live + 7 data for the Dec. 13 episode of Men of a Certain Age shows growth of 39% over Live + Same Day for a total of 3 million viewers. Delivery of adults 25-54 grew 50% to 1.4 million.

The final numbers are also in for the two-part Dec. 19 season finale of the action-packed TNT hit Leverage. Live + 7 data reveals the first part at 9 p.m. grew its audience to more than 4 million viewers (+57% over Live + Same Day) and 1.5 million adults 18-49 (+77% over Live + SD). The 10 p.m. episode scored a Live + 7 delivery of 4.2 million viewers (+63% over Live + SD) and 1.6 million adults 18-49 (+83% over Live + SD).

For its entire third season, Leverage averaged 4.5 million viewers up 1% over the second season. Compared to its second season, the show experienced solid growth among young adults, with adults 18-34 up 7% and adults 18-49 up 3%. Leverage is set to return for its fourth season this summer.

Through 22 games, the NBA on TNT is averaging a 1.6 U.S. rating (+45% vs. 1.1 for last year’s corresponding coverage), with 2,471,000 total viewers (+44% vs. 1,713,000) and 1,824,000 households (+39% vs. 1,310,000).

truTVtruTV enjoyed a spectacular week, scoring among basic cable’s top 10 networks in primetime delivery of adults 18-49, men 18-34 and men 18-49.

The truTV hit Hardcore Pawn, which takes viewers inside of one of the nation’s largest pawn shops, rang in big numbers for the series’ second-season premiere on Dec. 28. New back-to-back episodes at 10 and 10:30 p.m. outdelivered the show’s record-setting Aug. 16 launch. Hardcore Pawnalso gave truTV a victory as cable’s #1 entertainment network in delivery of men 18-49 for the 10 p.m. hour, with a second-place finish among adults 18-49.

The second-season premiere of Hardcore Pawn at 10 p.m. delivered an outstanding 2,032,000 viewers, up 2% over the series launch, which holds the record as the network’s biggest series debut of all time. Growth among key demos was considerably stronger, with the episode delivering 1,125,000 adults 18-49, up 16% over the series premiere, and 638,000 men 18-49, up 12% over the series premiere.

The 10:30 p.m. episode of Hardcore Pawn built on the success of its lead-in with 2,104,000 viewers; 1,135,000 adults 18-49; and 672,000 men 18-49.

With Hardcore Pawn leading the charge, truTV chalked up its most watched Tuesday primetime ever among total viewers, adults 18-49 and men 18-49.

Full Throttle Saloon, now in its second season on truTV, garnered its best numbers ever last Wednesday. The series scored more than 1.8 million viewers and ranked among basic cable’s Top 3 entertainment programs in its 10 p.m. timeslot with adults 18-49 (1 million) and men 18-49 (548,000).

TBSTBS’s hit late-night series Conanand Lopez Tonight were off last week (Dec. 27-30) for the holidays.

With data now in for the first seven weeks of Conan (Nov. 8 – Dec. 23), the hit show has held firm as television’s top late-night talk show among adults 18-34 and adults 18-49, with nearly twice as many viewers as its nearest competitor among the younger demo. Conan’s median age of 33 for the first seven weeks ties it with Lopez Tonight as late-night television’s youngest talk show.

A significant portion of the young audience for Conan catches the show through time-shifted viewing. When comparing Live + 7 deliveries to Live + Same Day, the sixth week of CONAN(Dec. 13-16) topped the competition by adding 129,000 adults 18-34, for a total of 767,000. CONAN also scored strong gains among adults 18-49 (+184,000 over Live + SD, for a final delivery of 1,142,000) and total viewers (+247,000 over Live + SD, for a final delivery of 1,556,000).

After seven weeks in its new midnight timeslot (Nov. 8 – Dec. 23), Lopez Tonight ranks as the #1 late-late talk show among adults 18-34. The show also remains tied with CONAN as television’s youngest late-night talk show, with a median age of 33.

Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns delivered basic cable’s #1 sitcom telecast for the week among adults 18-49, with the Wednesday 10:30 p.m. episode scoring 1.1 million in the demo.

NBA TVNBA TV continues to deliver strong audiences for its signature Tuesday night program Fan Night. Through the first nine Fan Night games of the season, the network is averaging 389,000 total viewers and 298,000 households. This season, nearly 5 million viewers have watched Fan Night on NBA TV through Dec. 28.

The network’s Jan. 4 Fan Night game will feature the San Antonio Spurs at the New York Knicks, winning with 63% of the fan vote on NBA.com. The game will air on Tues., Jan. 4, at 7:30 p.m. (ET), with host Ernie Johnson and analysts Chris Webber and Kevin McHale on-hand for studio coverage beginning at 7 p.m. (ET).